Songbirds and Sirens
by Prone To Obsession
Summary: Sally Sparrow and Larry Nightingale re-meet the Doctor in Brighton, where something strange and dangerous is happening surprise, surprise!
1. To The Beach

**Disclamer: I don't own Doctor Who and no money is made off of this; it's just for fun.  
**

**Characters/Pairing: Sally/Larry, 10th Doctor  
**

**Genres: General  
**

**Rating: K**

**A/N: Cross-posted on under the username "TenObsessed", that's me!  
**

"What's the point of Brighton without beach?"

"It's 2 degrees out!"

"So wear a coat. For God's sake, I'm not asking you to jump in the water; let's just take a walk."

"Fine, fine. You've dragged me to Brighton, you may as well drag me to the beach."

Sally laughed as Larry pulled on his jumper. "You'll have fun, I promise!" Larry shrugged, but he knew she was right. Lately, their life had fallen into a routine. He never used to mind routine. But Sally wasn't like that; she craved adventure and spontaneity. And she somehow made him crave it as well. Brighton wasn't the height of adventure, but it was something different. And Sally was with him; he always had fun when she was around.

"Right," he said at last. "To the beach." Sally grinned that gorgeous grin of hers and he wondered how he kept this girl around. They had been dating for a year and a half now, ever since they had met the Doctor in person and Sally could finally move on from the whole weeping angels thing. He shook his head slightly thinking of that day. Completely mental, that was. He was glad it had happened though; it was an adventure of a lifetime. A million times better than the MMORPGs and sci-fi movies that had filled his life up to that point. Not to mention, if it hadn't been for those angels and the Doctor, well, he knew Sally wouldn't have thought twice about him.

"Smile!" Larry was pulled out of his thoughts by Sally sticking her camera in his face. He looked up in surprise as she snapped what he was sure was an embarrassing photo of him. They were just stepping onto the beach, which was empty. Sally let the camera hang around her neck as she took Larry's hand. "C'mon, I'll race you to the pier!" She dragged him along until he was running beside her, then their hands parted as she sprinted ahead. He kept her pace fairly well, but was fully out of breath as she reached the pier just a second ahead of him.

"You said we were taking a walk, not a run," Larry accused between gasps.

"Oh, stop complaining," Sally rolled her eyes. "Hang on," she added, glancing around. "Bit weird, isn't it? I mean, it's not exactly peak tourist season, but the pier is _empty_."

"Not...entirely...empty" Larry managed between breaths. At Sally's confused look, he pointed behind her. She followed his gaze and gasped.

"Hold on!" A familiar voice chimed, "I know you two! Sally Sparrow! I had a feeling we'd meet again one day."

"Doctor!" Sally gasped, then smiled, "What are you doing here? Getting yourself in trouble again?"

"Oh, always."


	2. Song of the Sirens

**Disclamer: I don't own Doctor Who and no money is made off of this; it's just for fun. I also don't own Red Dwarf or Star Trek.**

**Characters/Pairing: Sally/Larry, 10th Doctor**

**Genres: General**

**Rating: K**

**A/N: I don't know anything about Star Trek, so all info is from the Internet, mainly Wikipedia. Blame them if I've got something wrong. :)**

Three lone figures strolled casually along Brighton Pier. "I never really got a chance to say thank you, properly," The Doctor said. "So thank you, Sally Sparrow."

"Larry helped too," Sally defended.

Larry smiled. "I brought the DVD player," he said. He knew he hadn't done much, but Sally would protest otherwise till the end of time.

"I couldn't have done it without him," she continued. "And you're welcome, Doctor." Larry could tell Sally had more questions, and truthfully, so did he. But neither would get to ask at the moment, since they were interrupted by a singing coming from across the water. He looked up and saw that there were three women sitting on the large rocks a few meters out. The women were singing some...ancient...haunting...song...

Larry couldn't think. He should–something. Shout–Sally. Help–Sally. But his brain wouldn't follow through, couldn't even complete his half-thoughts. He could only stand there, while that music filled his head, slowly took over every conscious thought. One word reached his ears. _Run._ It was–who? _Run._ The word came again, but Larry couldn't remember what it meant. Finally on the third try, the spell was broken. _RUN._ Sally's hand was in his, the Doctor's words ringing in his ears, and they were running. Away from the pier, back to the beach, all the way back to their hotel. Away from the water, away from the singing women.

"What the hell just happened?" Larry managed at last, when they were safe inside. "It was like, that song, it was in my head."

"Yeah," Sally joined in, "It was...I don't know, pulling everything else out of my mind."

"Sirens," the Doctor said at last. He was leaning against the wall, his head tilted back and arms folded across his chest.

"What, Psirens, like...Red Dwarf?" This was from Larry.

"More like...The Odyssey?" Sally teased him for his mind going straight to science fiction.

"Oh," Larry smiled sheepishly, "Right. The Sirens and Greek Mythology and all that."

"Right," the Doctor agreed. "See, all stories start somewhere. The La'ameras, what you know as Sirens, crash landed on Earth hundreds of years ago. Went terrorizing, well, Greece, apparently. Then they just disappeared. No trace. It would appear they've fallen through time and landed here."

"That happen often?" Sally asked.

"Well, just lately. Since the reality bomb-"

"The what?"

"Planets in the sky, Daleks exterminating people. Anyway, since then, the walls of the universe have been weakened, stuff gets though the cracks. I've been cleaning up these messes for months. Just before here, I came from the year 1851. Found an army of Cybermen in the Victorian age. Can you imagine?"

Sally just shook her head, obviously more concerned with the current problem, "What I don't understand is, how could those Sirens, or whatever you called them, get inside our heads like that?"

"They form a psychic link with their...prey. Through that song. Gives them a certain amount of control over the brain. That's why it was so hard for you two to run, even when you knew you should. And, while we were standing there, they were feeding off of our brain wave energy. When they're done, they use the psychic link to make their prey throw themselves into the water. Easy cleanup. Their control wasn't as strong for me, but still...I've never seen La'ameras so vicious." He scratched his head, thinking. "Question is, what do we do next?"

Larry spoke up, "Where's your ship? Your TARDIS? You must have weapons. A–a pulse cannon, or plasma guns, or, uh, photon torpedoes, or...or...what?" Larry faltered as the Doctor stared at him, nonplussed.

"Photon torpedoes?"

Larry shrugged, "Star Trek."

"Right...well, no. No pulse cannons. No photon torpedoes."

Sally looked amused, but her face sobered quickly. "Well, what _do_ we do?"

"I've got to talk to them; see what they want, where their ship is. Maybe I can send them back home. But, how do you talk to someone who steals your thoughts the instant you get near them?" The Doctor walked towards the door. "First things first, let's head to the TARDIS. C'mon, allons-y! And, er," he added, grinning at Larry, "chaw' maH jaH!"

Sally and Larry stood and followed the Doctor. "Allons-y?" Larry whispered.

"It's French, for let's go," Sally replied in the same hushed tone. "What's cha–cha ma ja?"

"Chaw' maH jaH. Klingon." Larry took Sally's hand as he answered. Sally nodded knowingly, hiding a smirk by burying her head in his arm.


	3. The TARDIS

**Disclamer: I don't own Doctor Who and no money is made off of this; it's just for fun. I also don't own Red Dwarf or Star Trek.**

**Characters/Pairing: Sally/Larry, 10th Doctor**

**Genres: General**

**Rating: K**

**A/N: Sort of a filler chapter, not a lot of action, just Sally and Larry in the TARDIS while the Doctor works out a solution. :P Reviews and Constructive Criticism are greatly appreciated, I'm not really comfortable with this sort of story; look at my others and you'll see I mainly do one-shots of fluff, so it's a bit of a stretch!**

"Oh it's beautiful!" Sally breathed as the stepped into the TARDIS. " I didn't really get a chance to appreciate it last time. The gold light and those coral columns, all these wobbly bits on the, er, console?"

Larry furrowed his eyebrows, asking, "But how's it work? Bigger on the inside?"

"Dimensionally transcendental," was the Doctor's curt reply. Larry frowned for a moment, but seemed to accept the explanation. "Think," the Doctor continued, "Sirens. How do we talk to Sirens?"

Sally's face brightened, "I remember the story, I think. Odysseus strapped himself to the mast of the ship so he couldn't do anything when he heard the song. Then, he told his men they should fill their ears with beeswax so they wouldn't hear the Siren's song, and they wouldn't be affected. So, wouldn't we just fill our ears with beeswax, so to speak? You must have earplugs or something."

The Doctor looked impressed, but shook his head, "The story got twisted over time. They can get inside your head, transmit the song psychically, they don't need literal music. We'd have to...hold on...we'd have to...yes! That's it!" Without another word, the Doctor set himself to work, gathering up bits and pieces from around the console room, digging stuff out of his pockets, even opening up the floor grating to grab—a bicycle helmet?

"Sorry," Sally interjected, "But what exactly are you doing?"

"I'm making a psychic damper. Like, beeswax, for a psychic song."

Sally and Larry sat on the worn leather bench as they watched him work. "Can we help?" Sally asked, but the Doctor waved her off. She wondered how long he had been on his own; he didn't seem to know what to do with them. She looked at Larry, who shrugged and got up to poke around the console. Sally followed his lead and decided to do some exploring herself. She peeked through the far doorway, and was taken aback at how far the corridors stretched beyond the console room. She didn't want to go too far; in case the Doctor needed help, but decided to look at the first room to the right. It was a lavish library, books stacked on every free surface, plush leather arm chairs, and floor-to-ceiling bookcases packed with books. She took it all in, and quickly decided that she would very much like to spend more time in here. Once the alien brain-wave eating killers were taken care of.

Reluctantly, she closed the door behind her and stepped back into the corridor. She opened the door opposite, and found it was a kitchen, littered with random food and what she supposed were various cooking utensils, though she wasn't sure what most of them did. It was messy, but an organized sort of mess.

"Sally!" she heard the Doctor calling for her, so she quickly shut the door and rejoined the two men in the console room. The Doctor was holding his finished psychic damper. It was essentially a bicycle helmet, with a few wires and lights sticking out here and there. The Doctor looked proud of himself. "All set. I need you two to stay here, just in case It doesn't work."

"What happens if it doesn't work?"

The Doctor looked serious, "Emergency Programme Seven will take you two to Cardiff. You'll need to go to Torchwood, find a man named Captain Jack Harkness. Tell him everything that's happened, and they'll do their best to succeed where I failed."

"What's Torchwood?"

The Doctor shook his head, suddenly smiling. "Doesn't matter. Because I am brilliant, and this will definitely work." He nodded, for emphasis, then placed the helmet on his head and marched out of the TARDIS doors.


	4. Odysseus

**A/N: Bit of a change here; I've split the last chapter into two parts, hopefully built up a little more dramatic tension at the end here before delving straight into the resolution. I think it's quite a bit better, if I do say so myself. :)**

"We're supposed to just sit here?" Sally complained.

"Come here, I think I can get...yup..." Larry muttered. He had been messing with the monitor on the console and suddenly the Doctor in his ridiculous hat appeared on the screen. "Hold on a mo'" Larry added, pressing a couple extra buttons. "There, now we've got audio and visual." Sure enough, Sally's brilliant boyfriend had done it! They watched the Doctor step to the edge of the pier.

"La'amera!" He shouted. "I order you to stop the hunt of this planet. Earth is a level 5 planet, and you have no right to be here!" He stopped, waiting for a response, but there was none. "Talk to me! You can't take my thoughts so...talk..." he trailed off as he realized his mistake. Spinning around, he looked back at the TARDIS, worry etched in his face. But in a moment, it was gone, as he stepped back through the police box doors and took the helmet off.

"What happened?" Sally asked.

"Hm? Oh, the psychic damper worked perfectly! Er, too perfectly, actually. See, the La'amera don't speak, as such. They project thoughts. By protecting my mind, I cut myself off from them."

"Well, there must be something you can do," Larry mused. "Couldn't you make it a one way damper? Y'know, they can't feed, but they can transmit their thoughts?"

The Doctor smiled, but only slightly. "I could, but it'd take too long. Now that they know why I'm here they won't stick around. We've got to act fast...what do I do, what do I do? Think think think think think..." The Doctor started muttering to himself, then shouted, "Odysseus!"

"What about him?"

"Odysseus didn't use the beeswax. He strapped himself to the mast, but he was basically vulnerable...Larry, put this on," he handed Larry the damper, and Larry obeyed. "I might, if I'm very very careful, I just might be able to communicate without the damper. Put up enough mental blocks to keep myself safe, for a while. Hopefully they'll play nice. But if things go bad, I'll need you there to pull me out." Larry looked nervous, but the Doctor did his best to reassure him. "Don't worry, you saw the damper works. You'll be perfectly safe, and you probably won't need to do anything. In the worst case, I have this," he held up a small remote, "and I can use it. Sally, _don't_ leave the TARDIS. If I do use this," he motioned again to the remote, "you'll need to be inside to be safe. Or," he added to the ever-increasingly panicked Larry, "or safe inside the damper helmet. Honestly, it'll be fine. I promise." Before Sally could ask what, exactly, 'this' was, he motioned Larry to follow him back out, and the two stepped, grim-faced, onto the pier. Sally ran back to the monitor to watch.

"There now!" He shouted to the Sirens. "Just me and you. Well, and Larry. But never mind him, because right now, I need you to talk to me." There was silence, then, "I know you crashed, but that doesn't mean you can stay. I can take you home." The Doctor suddenly screamed and clutched his head, Larry moved towards him, ready to drag him back to the TARDIS, but the Doctor put up a hand as he focused his mind, sucking in air through clenched teeth. "You could have just said no. But I'd rethink that if I were you, I really would. Because if you won't leave peacefully, then I'll have stop you another way. And you don't want that." He held up the remote. "Do you know what this is?"

The Sirens didn't seem to want the Doctor's explanation, as they chose that moment to dive from the rocks where they were perched. They bared vicious fangs as they swam the few metres to the shore. Larry took a step towards the TARDIS, but the Doctor remained in place, his face stony. He held up the small remote, but before he could do anything more, he collapsed screaming onto the ground.


	5. Sparrow & Nightingale Save The Day

Larry watched in horror as the Doctor collapsed, the Sirens having obviously gotten the better of him, psychically speaking. The remote fell from his hand and skittered across the pier towards Larry. He grabbed it, but didn't know what to do next. There were three buttons and two switches. He mashed the buttons and flipped the switches, but it did nothing. Frantic, he looked helplessly towards the Doctor and then towards the TARDIS. He decided to pocket the device and started dragging the Doctor towards the ship, already knowing he wouldn't be able to make it inside. The Sirens, or La'ameras, or whatever—they were fast. They were already pulling themselves up onto the pier—he had seconds, if that. But, it was the only thing he could think of to do, until he figured out how to use the remote.

Thankfully, Sally wasn't sitting idly in the TARDIS. As soon as the Doctor collapsed she started searching through the mess, trying to find some clue how to use that remote Larry had grabbed. "What do I do? How does it work?" she shouted in exasperation. The TARDIS immediately beeped at her and she turned back to the monitor, which was now showing a set of instructions. Sally ran to the door, and shouted out to Larry, "Flip the two switches down and press the middle button!" The she quickly closed the TARDIS door, remembering what the Doctor had told her; she needed to be inside when Larry used the remote.

"Switches down," thought Larry as he followed Sally's instructions. He had no clue how she knew what to do, but he would trust Sally with his life, so he held his breath and pressed the red button in the middle. The three La'ameras, who were a foot away and ready to lunge forward, suddenly collapsed, writhing in agony, then slowly fell still.

Sally bolted out of the TARDIS to join Larry, who was struggling to carry the unconscious Doctor. Together, they pulled him inside and lay him on the floor. Sally looked back towards the door and towards the Sirens. Larry shook his head, "They're dead, I think."

"And the Doctor?"

"I checked; he's alive. Did you know he had two hearts?"

"What?"

Larry motioned for her to check his pulse, and she felt his twin heartbeats. As she did so, the Doctor groaned just slightly and his eyelids fluttered open. "What happened?" he asked.

"I...I'm not sure. You dropped the remote, and Larry grabbed it and used it, and...I think he killed the Sirens? La'ameras."

The Doctor grunted as he got up and sat on the bench. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry. I didn't want to have to use that, and I really didn't want you to have to use it. But they were...well, thanks."

"But what did it do?" Sally asked.

"It was a sort of special feature, I suppose. I added it to the psychic damper, just in case." The Doctor and Sally looked at the helmet, still on Larry's head. He sheepishly removed it and handed it to the Doctor as he continued the explanation, voice quiet and deep, "It magnified the psychic field, reversed it. Drowned them in energy. Burnt up their brains."

"Why didn't it kill you?"

"Oh, I'll survive anything, me," he smiled a small, sad sort of smile, then continued, "I still had enough neural blocks in place to save me. But I do have a pretty massive headache. If you don't mind, I think I'll take a nap. Haven't slept in, oh, two weeks?"

Sally and Larry looked at each other, wondering what he meant for them to do. They didn't wonder long, though, as the Doctor noticed their faces, and smiled. "You two can go pick out a room for yourselves. You might head back to the hotel and get your luggage. And then you can decide where you'd like to go. All of space and time to choose from," he said, as nonchalantly as his throbbing head would allow.

Sally was beaming, "What, we can come with you?"

"Yeah...yeah," he said, as if just deciding it at that moment. "You two've saved me twice now. I reckon you deserve to see the sights. If you want to, that is."

The two looked at each other, speaking that silent language they had learned in their past eighteen months together. _Should we go? What about the shop? It's the chance of a lifetime..._

"Oh yeah," Larry answered, "We'd love to come along."

Sally added, "Someone's got to keep you out of trouble."


End file.
